Hyouden::Field of Eternal Snow
by Krss
Summary: The life story of Mikagami Tokiya.. well, according to my own imagination ^^ Enjoy, ne? ^.~
1. Prologue

Hyouden

Hyouden: Field of Eternal Snow.  
The Mikagami Tokiya Story 

By Kriss ^.~  
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Prologue 

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Part One - Gifts. 

Snow descended through the darkness of night, tiny wings of white descending from heaven. Miyuki smiled contentedly as she lay back on her hospital bed. The maternity ward was quiet now, the silence only broken by the voice of her daughter, Mifuyu. "Wings of angels from heaven," she mused silently as she watched the falling snow. Her silver-blue hair fell over her shoulders, framing her slender features. Drawing her eyes from the window, she gazed at the bundle in the arms of her daughter. A wave of happiness washed over her. "Dear Angels," she whispered in her heart. "Bless my children - my sweet Mifuyu and my newborn son."

Mifuyu glanced at her mother and flashed a smile. "He's really cute!" she grinned, hugging the infant tighter. 

Miyuki laughed fondly. "Not so hard, you'll break him." she smiled, taking the baby from the ten year old girl. 

"You haven't told me his name yet," Mifuyu said as she gently rubbed her brother's head, enjoying the feel of his silken infant hair. His eyes were shut in a peaceful slumber. "What do babies dream of?" she asked suddenly, being inquisitive for her age.

"I don't know," replied Miyuki. "His name, by the way, is Tokiya." Her voice was thick with happiness and pride as she said his name, her eyes full of maternal love for the child. Her family was complete, and she couldn't be happier.

"Mikagami Tokiya..." Mifuyu said, testing the sound of his name. "It's sounds funny," she grinned again.

They both gazed at him, sharing the peace he seemed to exude as he slept. A contented silence filled the room. A knock on the door shattered the serene ambience. A nurse entered. "Mrs. Mikagami?" she asked Miyuki. She glanced at Mifuyu, her presence surprising the nurse. "I need to speak with you privately."

"Sure," Miyuki replied softly, a frown of curiosity crossed her brow. Handing the baby to Mifuyu, she threw the blanket aside and followed the nurse. 

The bright, white halls of the maternity ward were crowded with people and nurses - new families, growing ones, the entire ward was filled with smiles. The joy of new life filled the ward. In one corner, Miyuki exchanged disturbing words with the nurse. "That's not true!" she cried desperately, not believing the news. She grasped the arms of the nurse. "Where is he? Show me!" Her voice rising in a desperate crescendo. Nodding sadly, the nurse led her away from the ward down a quieter, emptier and more solemn hallway. The Intensive Care Units lined the hall, the drawn faces of the critically ill set the place in a deathly somber silence. A silence that was accentuated by the loud sounds of their shoes against the tiles of the hall. Miyuki did not notice any of the sadly sick faces that appeared through the glass panels of the ward doors, her mind was fixed on one face only - that of her husband, Mikagami Fuyuma. He had been seriously injured in a street melee on his way to the hospital earlier. "Why?" she screamed in her mind. "Why? Why today? Why him?" 

Her face set in compassion and pity, the nurse stopped by one of the wards along the hallway and opened it for Miyuki. Desperately calling her husband's name, Miyuki rushed in. She stopped dead in her tracks, her hand clutched to her heaving chest. On the bed, wired to so many machines, lay a very heavily bandaged man. Though his face was bruised, swollen and cut, he smiled a greeting. "What happened?" she screamed, the shock finally overcome. "You were fighting again, weren't you?" she snapped accusingly as she reached his side. "You said you wouldn't! You promised you'd never fight again! And today of all days! Fuyuma, you idiot!" The words tumbled forth, a floodgate of emotions ravaged her being. 

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can stay here anymore." he suddenly said, his voice was labored and barely audible.

Her words ceased as she stared at him saucer-eyed. "What?" she squeaked.

"They've found me again, and they want the Ensui. They might use you to get to it. I don't want anything to happen to you or to Mifuyu... or to my son. I can't tell you where I'm going... and I may not come back." Miyuki's lip quivered as the words sunk in. Finally overwhelmed, she collapsed to her knees beside his bed and began to weep. "I'm sorry, Miyuki," he rasped as he leant forward and took her sobbing form into his arms. "I've ruined everything for us..." His voice was sincere and filled with regret. So many feelings raged through her mind, but Miyuki was at a loss for words. Hot tears burning in her eyes, she held him tighter as her shoulders shook with her cries. Fuyuma had the fighting prowess of a demon, yet he was a gentle man. However hard he tried, his heritage of the Ensui and the danger it brought with it always caught up with him. And now it faced him squarely and his beloved family was in jeopardy. She understood why he was intending to leave them, but the tears kept falling. She loved and respected him deeply. She had wanted so much for him to watch the son he had longed for take his first steps, utter his first word... she had wanted him to see Mifuyu graduate from college, to meet her future husband - she had wanted so much for him to be happy. And all that she had hoped for now shattered against reality. 

"I love you..." she whispered between sobs as she clutched his hospital night shirt. "You have to see them," she exclaimed with fervor. "You must! These are my gifts to you-" she broke off and sped out of the room and down the hall. Moments later, she entered the room once again with Tokiya in her arms and Mifuyu in tow.

"Dad?!" Mifuyu exclaimed. 

"Yeah, it's me." grinned Fuyuma. "I had a nasty fall."

"You're such a klutz!" snapped Mifuyu, being too young to realize the gravity of the situation. Then, remembering what the occasion, she excitedly began telling him about her new brother. Gingerly, Miyuki placed the infant in his arms as Mifuyu began to tell him how silky Tokiya's hair was and his warm and soft he felt. As Miyuki watched them, sadness, regret along with an all-encompassing joy filled her as tears flowed forth once again. "This is the last time," she thought. "The last opportunity we will have to be together like this." With that in mind, she sat down on the bed next to her husband as he complimented and thanked her again and again for the gifts he will cherish forever.

Part Two - Beautiful Happiness

Tokiya ran across the living room as his diapers rustled with each step. Laughing enthusiastically, Mifuyu scooped the four year old boy into her arms and ran her fingers through his fringe, which had retained its silken texture. She bounced the giggling boy in her arms. "Kaggak so much." he said innocently in his youthful voice.

Mifuyu laughed wholeheartedly at his words as she lay him down on the sofa. The moment she turned to get a new diaper, he was off running again. "Oi!" she exclaimed playfully as she chased the boy. Finally catching him, she picked him up again and dropped gently on his stomach onto the sofa. Pursing her lips together, she began to tickle his sides as he laughed his high-pitched squeal and kicked about wildly. Getting up again, she turned to reach for a diaper. Then she spun around and smilingly glared at the giggling Tokiya as he dropped his head back down, caught in the act of running away. They repeated this game a few times before he actually managed to take off again. The front door opened just as they ran past. Miyuki smiled as she greeted her daughter, who had once again caught Tokiya. 

"How was your day, mom?" Mifuyu asked as she held him in her arms. She passed the boy to her mother. "Hold that for me will you?" she smiled. As her mother put her handbag down on the nearby dining table, he began to tug at her hair. 

"Tokiya, don't pull mommy's hair," she scolded gently.

Mifuyu had spread a cloth diaper over the sofa to protect the upholstery. Taking the boy from her mother again, she said, "He's on a permanent sugar-high. You had too many cakes during your pregnancy with him, mom." Miyuki laughed. "Dinner's ready so go have a bath, mom."

"'Go have a bath'?" Miyuki raised an eyebrow. "That's my line. I wonder who's the mother in this family."

"You are." Mifuyu replied as she finished changing her brother's diaper. The minute his feet touched the floor, he ran off again to his mother. She lifted him up and kissed him on the cheek. 

After Tokiya was born, they had moved from Tokyo to Hokkaido where Miyuki had gotten a job as an accountant for Cocom Foundation, a promising new company. She had changed a lot. She was harder, tougher in her attitude towards life and it showed in her eyes. She was also more somber, accentuated by her hair bundled neatly in a French plait, frameless spectacles and an executive suit. Mifuyu had become more outspoken and was showing potential to grow into a fine young woman. She was growing into a woman, her long brown hair tied in a pony tail. But it was Tokiya who had changed the most. He had grown a great deal from the tiny infant into a chubby toddler. His speech was quite advanced for a child of that age, being able to form sentences and questions with surprising fluency. His motor skills were also extraordinary, which was not always good since many of the things he threw at Mifuyu in childish anger often his her square in the face. Other than those outbursts, life was peaceful for them, and Miyuki wanted it no other way. Any sort of combat was strictly taboo as far as she was concerned, knowing full well the emotional and physical anguish it could cause. Fuyuma thought her that. He had left them the night Tokiya was born, just as he had said. Miyuki told her daughter that her father was on a research trip and, Fuyuma being an archeologist and historian, Mifuyu believed her mother instantly.

It was Friday that day. Once dinner was over, Miyuki proceeded to give her son a bath as he screamed and wailed in protest. "Oh, for crying out loud!" she snapped in irritation as he squirmed in his baby tub. "Considering your bloodline, you'd at least expect him to enjoy the water but nooo-" Still, she managed to finish his bath and toweled him down. Out of the water again, he was back to his carefree cheerful mood as his mother combed his damp hair. She sighed half-envious of her son's hair. "I'm so jealous." she grinned, smoothing down his hair with her flat palm. With a pat on the bottom from his mother, Tokiya walked off to the living room. Miyuki tittered as she watched her son, his pampers making him resemble Donald Duck. Following him, she entered the living room and saw Mifuyu lying on the carpet, her homework spread out before her. Tokiya was amusing himself disturbing his sister by patting the pages she was reading, distracting her.

"Oi!" Mifuyu snapped at her brother, moving her books away. Miyuki picked the boy up and put him in his little corner of toys. Surrounded by his building blocks, toy trucks and plush toys, he finally settled down. Glancing back as she left, Miyuki took in the scene, a serene smile playing on her slender lips.

Miyuki stood beneath the shower, the warm water washing over her naked form. Her waist-long hair clung to her neck, back and breasts, water running from then in rivulets over her soft skin. In the mist that shrouded the shower, the orange down-light hid her eyes in the shadow of her brow. Her thoughts raced as she reached up to pull her hair back. "It has been four years," she thought silently, she pulled her up and off her shoulders, letting it drop neatly onto her back. Suddenly, her psychological and physical strength failing her as hidden emotions surfaced, she dropped to the floor on her haunches. Her salty tears mingling with the water that ran down her face.  
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Author's Note: FoR does not belong to me, blah blah blah - usual disclaimers. So any characters that don't appear in the comic are mine (ie: Miyuki/Fuyuma/Nurse [the nurse? Big deal...]) Comments/criticism/whatever please! :} This is my first time writing so do me a favour and review my fic pls! Tanx ^.^

Kriss ^.~  



	2. Chapter 1

Hyouden

Hyouden: Field of Eternal Snow  
The Mikagami Tokiya Story   
__________________________  
Chapter One - The Way It Should Have Been

"Tokiya!" Miyuki called, annoyance filling her voice as she stood at the genkan. The six year old boy appeared at the top of the stairs, smiling down at his mother. He was tall and slender, inheriting his build from his mother, his silver-blue hair was leveled at the back and his bangs framed his startlingly blue eyes, he was donned in his favorite pair of home shorts and a singlet. comments 

"Halow!" he grinned, waving at her.

"How long have you been home?" she snapped.

"For three hours now," he replied, blinking.

"Three hours? The floor isn't cleaned, this is not the place to put your jacket-" She pointed at the jacket that lay tossed on the shoe cabinet. "And what did I tell you about your shoes?" 

"Put the nicely?" he mumbled sheepishly as he approached her, coming down the stairs.

"Good boy," she snarled, her eyes narrowing menacingly. Meekly, he placed his shoes neatly in the cabinet and hung his jacket on the nearby coat stand. His mother watched him ominously as he did so. Then he trotted, hoping to escape the rest of the chores. "Tokiya!" she snapped.

Stopping in his tracks, he turned around warily, as though he were about to face a hungry tiger. "But sweeping the floor's so boring!" he moaned knowingly.

Hands on her hips, his mother bent down to his height and scowled. A nervous bead of sweat formed on his forehead. "GO!" she barked. With a startled yelp, he dashed for the broom, knowing better than to agitate his mother further. "And do a good job of it or else." she added for good measure. Mifuyu was not home most of the time these days, being busy with school. So for Tokiya to do minor chores was only fair. And him being a boy did not excuse him from helping out. Undoing the clip that bound her hair, she started up the stairs for a quick bath. Her hair cascaded down over her shoulders like a brilliant blue waterfall.

Dinner came and went. By the time Mifuyu came home, it was eight in the evening. Happily excusing himself from his homework, Tokiya went to greet her at the genkan. "Halow, ni-chan!" he grinned at her.

"Hey there," she smiled warily and walked past him. Understanding, he returned to his work. Just before ten o'clock, the family gathered in the living room, sharing some quiet time. Mifuyu read to her brother a children's classic as the boy sat contentedly on her lap. Miyuki was also buried in a book, lounging on the sofa. "Such peace," she thought. "This is how it's should have been... when Fuyuma was here..."

Chapter Two - The Scar

"And the prey is sighted," Tokiya grinned menacingly as he watched his sister cooking from the kitchen door. Her back to him, she was humming contentedly. Mischief burning in his eyes, he dashed out suddenly. Racing across the kitchen, his hand flashed through the air. 

"GYAAAAAHHH!" Mifuyu screamed, startles and angry as her skirt fluttered up, revealing her white panties. Laughing triumphantly, Tokiya sped out of the kitchen through the back door. "TOKIYAAAAA!!!" Mifuyu cried, her feminine voice quivered with rage. As the kitchen door began to swing shut after the boy, he suddenly fell over with a painful and startled cry.

The slipper bounced on the grass of the backyard as the door creaked shut behind the fallen form. Mifuyu stood facing the door, her hand extended forward from the throw. The door burst open. "Baka! That really hurt!" Tokiya exploded, standing at the doorway. "Who throws a slipper? Honestly!!"

"You're lucky I didn't throw the pan at you, you brat!" Mifuyu screeched back.

"The pan?" he retorted, pointing a defiant finger at her. "You shouldn't even be holding one, you can't cook to save your life!" 

Sullenly, Tokiya walked down the sidewalk to school, his cheek still red from where Mifuyu slapped him that morning. Moaning, he rubbed his cheek. "Tokiya-chan!" he heard. Spinning around, he saw his two friends - Juro and Takeshi. Juro, slightly shorter than Tokiya was round and chubby with large innocent eyes and rosy cheeks. Takeshi, though a year older than the two, was the shortest with a stocky build, bushy eyebrows and a wide square jaw. "Tokiya-chan," Juro said, breathing heavily from running to catch up with him. "What happened to your face?"

"Mifuyu slapped him," Takeshi grinned cheekily. "He's so naughty at home."

"Say What?" Tokiya snarled, removing his fist from Takeshi's cheek. 

"It's true, though!" Takeshi continued to grin. "Teacher's little angel is a big demon at home!"

"NANI?" Tokiya screeched, his cheeks reddening even more from the insult.

Juro smiled nervously as he held his enraged friend back. "Aye, can't you two get along nicely?" he groaned as Tokiya kicked wildly at the sneering Takeshi.

"There," Tokiya whispered to his friends as they waited to cross the road. Ahead, two office women were waiting for the light to change. They were chatting innocently. "They should do fine."

"Y-you really wanna do it?" Juro stammered as he recalled their 'plan'.

"This is the price of my training," snapped Tokiya as he pointed to his slapped cheek. "I'm not gonna let it go to waste."

"Oh so that's where you got the slap from..." jeered Takeshi. Tokiya stared at him, his cheeks puffed with anger.

"Shaddup, why don'cha." he snarled. Quickly recovering, he continued, "You take the left one and I'll take the right." He gestured to the ladies. "And Juro is back up." The lights turned and the green 'walk' signal flashed. "Go!" 

The three surged forward. With a shocked screech, the skirts of the girls fluttered wildly, their panties clearly visible in the sunlight. Tokiya, Takeshi and Juro continued to race down the sidewalk, laughing happily in triumph. "Yeah!" they exclaimed, clapping their hands together in a group high five. They were far away from the intersection and the two harassed women, hiding in the alley between two houses. 

"Mikagami Tokiya, class 1-B, registration number 29, Nakogiri Elementary!" they suddenly heard. Spinning around they saw a girl of long dark hair standing with her hands on her hips, scowling at them. 

"Junko!" he exclaimed.

"That's your third count of skirt-flipping this week! Kobayakawa Takeshi, class 1-B, registration number 25, Nakogiri Elementary! That was your second count of skirt-flipping! And Genzaemon Juro, class 1-B, registration number 19, Nakogiri Elementary! You are their accomplice!" She pointed at then dramatically. "For your crimes you will be punished!"

"Stupid girl!" they cried. "Break!" Tokiya shouted, the three friends running off down three different alleys. 

"Stop right there, you!" Junko shouted, running straight for Tokiya. 

"Baka, baka, baka!" he shouted back at her. "Why are you bugging me, you ugly girl?"

"Ugly?! You-!" she choked in outrage.

"Who are you? My mother?" he snapped back, turning down another alley. Clouds of dried mud were thrown into the air as his feet scraped the ground, coming to a dead halt. "Oops." he muttered as he was faced with a wall that, to his diminutive form, towered over him. Spinning around, he came face to face with a very very angry girl. She glared at him as her chest heaved from the running. 

"I've got you now!" she cried.

"What you gonna do?" he sneered, his hands on his hips and shoulders back. "Your Judo belt doesn't scare me, you're still just a stupid ugly tomboy who smells like my feet!" With a scream of rage, she punched rapidly at him. Surprisingly, he evaded her fists easily. As she lunged at him with another punch, he let his feet slide from under him and kicked her foot as she fell. Wailing, she fell forward, landing on the ground with a thud. Grabbing his chance, Tokiya hopped onto an empty crate against the wall. He jumped up, catching the edge of the top of the wall. He grunted as he heaved himself up. With a scornful laugh, he sat down on the wall, staring down at the fallen Junko. "Try and get me now, you stupid girl!"

Suddenly grinning vengefully, she sprung up and pulled the crate away. Tokiya cried out in astonishment. "It's my turn to laugh now!" she exclaimed, throwing her head back in demonic laughter. "Bye bye," she waved, grinning. "Tokiya - my little bird on the wall..." With another laugh, she sped out of the alley and out of sight. 

Tokiya stared at her back until she vanished. He was totally shocked. Suddenly balling his fists, he growled in frustration. "I can't believe I let that stupid girl do this to me!"

"I'll say." he heard a voice behind him say. Startled, he lost his balance. His arms waving madly in the air, he managed to lie down on the top of the wall, hugging it tightly. 

"Don't startle me like that..." he moaned, recovering from the fright. He looked up and saw a man watching him from the second story window of the house behind the wall. He had broad shoulders, muscular arms and white bushy eyebrows that stood out against his tanned skin. His eyes were shut in an amused smile. He was totally bald.

"You got yourself into a spot there, boy," teased the man.

"I... Just help me down!" Tokiya groaned dejectedly. The man disappeared from the window. A moment later, the first story door swung open and the man stepped out. He was donned in a pajama bottom and sandals. His eyes and cheeks were hidden by the shadows of his brow and cheekbones. He was smiling up at the boy as he crossed the small backyard and approached the wall. The morning sun was shining down brightly through the old cryptomeria tree that stood grandly in the backyard, casting scattered shadows over the Tokiya and the man. Reaching the wall, the man stretched up his arms to the boy.

Finally safe back on the ground, Tokiya glanced up at the man. "You're huge!" he gasped. "And what happened to your hair?"

The man laughed, amused by Tokiya's straightforward words. "You're cute, little one." he grinned as he ruffled Tokiya's hair.

"'Cute'? 'Little one'?" Tokiya's eye twitched, the man's words hitting a vulnerable spot. The man took Tokiya's hand and led him towards the house.

"What's your name, boy?" asked the man as he led Tokiya by the hand to the house.

"Mikagami-" The sun flooded the face of the man, revealing a wide scar on his face that startled the boy. In momentary silence, he stared at it, its image burning in his memory. "-ah- Tokiya... Mikagami Tokiya. Wh-"

Before he could inquire of the man's identity, the man spoke, "That girl said you flipped skirts?"

"Girl?" Tokiya snapped, forgetting his question in his reawakened anger. "You mean that Stupid Junko?"

"oh, is that her name?" the man mused absently. "You evaded her punches very well."

"Ah-" Tokiya stammered, not sure what the compliment would lead to. "...Thanks..."

"Do you study martial arts?"

"Martial arts? You mean fighting?" Tokiya blinked. "No, my mother doesn't like that stuff. She hates fighting... she's like that."

"Oh, I see." They reached the door and Tokiya dug his heels in. "What's wrong?"

"Um... well, I don't know you and-"

"You're worried about going into the house of a stranger?" laughed the man. "Well then," Letting go of Tokiya's hand he presented his own hand to the boy. "My name is Meguri Kyoza." Tentatively, Tokiya took the man's hand and, in Kyoza's firm grasp, they shook hands. Tokiya looked up at the man. Once again, the scar caught his attention. It was vivid against his skin, resembling the glint of a blade in the darkness.

To be continued...   
Author's Note: Well, there's installment two. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Comments/whatever please!

P.S Kyoza, Tokiya and Mifuyu copyright to Nobuyuki Anzai. Everyone else is mine ^.^


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